कंपनी 8 अक्टूबर से शुरू हो रही फ्लिपकार्ट बिग बिलियन डेज सेल में स्मार्टफोन को बेचेगी।
PhonePe announced its UPI 123Pay service on August 31, using an SMS-based system that does not require mobile internet. It also announced an activation helpline supporting English and 12 Indian languages. Digital payments are expanding what compatible basic handsets can do. Its current terms allow transfers, merchant payments and QR scanning on camera-equipped feature phones, with one bank account enabled at a time. At launch, PhonePe named Nokia, HMD, Lava and itel as handset partners. Bill payments, recharges and Aadhaar-based onboarding were described as forthcoming; their rollout needs confirmation before being presented as available.
Overall smartphone shipments declined 20%. Ravi Kunwar, vice-president and CEO, HMD India and APAC, estimated that around 200 million people still use 2G feature phones. CMR’s April–June 2026 data showed 2G feature-phone shipments rising 5% year-on-year while 4G models declined 43%. Itel held 38% of the 2G segment, followed by Lava at 30% and HMD at 20%.
Because price increases pushed models into higher bands, counterpoint Research’s October 23 report showed shipments below Rs 20,000 falling 47% year-on-year in July–September, partly.
“Feature phones continue to serve a distinct and practical need: they offer reliable, essential connectivity at a price and level of simplicity that smartphones cannot always replicate,” he said. New Delhi: India’s basic phone is refusing to hang up. As rising smartphone prices put upgrades beyond some buyers’ budgets, feature-phone manufacturers are adding digital payments and other services to devices whose biggest attractions remain affordability, battery life and simplicity. The pressure on smartphone affordability has intensified since September. That does not establish a shift towards feature phones, but it provides a sharper backdrop to why their users may postpone upgrading. Arijeet Talapatra, CEO of itel India, Transsion Holdings, described the feature-phone category as increasingly driven by replacement demand. Affordability remains the biggest draw, alongside durability, multi-day battery life and ease of use. That represents an existing user base, rather than annual handset sales. More capabilities, however, have not produced consistent shipment growth. These are second-quarter figures, not a measure of current festive demand.